Tag Archives: A Decade of Gaming Love 2024

Snap *censored* Pop Culture

February 2024 Marvel Comics

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Introduction

The end of the week got busy. We went to the Botanical Garden with Mom and then I drove her back to the train station. We spent yesterday painting the front room and dining room. And, so, in true 2 Generations Gaming fashion, February 2024 Marvel Comics article comes two days too late. Such is life. I also have no plans for the coming week as far as articles, so the page might go slightly dormant. I do have notes finally for the next episode of Noob’s Book Club, so maybe I will take this week to get back in the habit with that and the YouTube page.

Incomplete (Spider-Man Gang War)

Previously in these articles, I said I was out on Spider-Man until Wells stopped writing it. Seriously, I hated his stories that much. But, I heard good things about Gang War. I was willing to give it a chance, but my hiatus from DCBS ordering put a 3 issue hole in the run, so it will have to wait until I can make it down to That’s Entertainment or order from Midtown.

Decent (Cap and Punisher)

I want to enjoy J. Michael Stracynski’s Captain America. I loved his Spider-Man. So far, though, I want more from this Captain America story. I liked the start of it, but the set up is now going on too long. He writes so much. I think I’m just getting more impatient in old age. Speaking of old age, it hasn’t been kind to my opinion of The Punisher.

Good (Some bordering on great, others hurt by their art)

The Immortal Thor 6

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Writer: Al Ewing, Artist Martin Coccolo

The Avengers is one of the titles that oscillates between good and great. This one sets up for a new story, which looks like it might be great, but we have to wait to see. I never got into the previous Black Panther story, but I like what Ewing has done with the character and story. This one might push up into great soon. I loved Al Ewing on Immortal Hulk and I think this one might eventually get there, too. For now, I will just say that I liked the vibe of this issue and hope it continues. Speaking of Al Ewing, they are trying to keep the horror theme of his Hulk. PKJ isn’t quite on his level. And, the art is just not great. Gronbekk is making me enjoy Venom again. She writes the title with some joy and that is infectious.

Great (Where’s She Hulk?!)

Writer: Ryan North with various artists
Writers: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, Artist: Kev Walker

Without She-Hulk for some reason this month, only these two stand up as outstanding stories right now. Fantastic Four just brings that old school flavor from the beginnings of the title. Fun, fresh, and (dare I say it) fantastic! It looks like they want to capture a similar theme for the movie, so now I can’t wait to see that. The Grootfall story took some time to grow on me, but overall Guardians of the Galaxy also reminds me of the family that I know and love.

The Verdict

The February 2024 Marvel Comics line up, overall, was enjoyable. I want to read Spider-Man, because I miss the friendly neighborhood wall crawler. I also still need to catch up on X-Men so I can start reviewing that one. Then again, I read something like a dozen books, so do I really need more right now? In any case, see you in March!

Snap *censored* Pop Culture

Betting the Bowl 2024

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Introduction

I started this series last year in a completely fictional sense. Then, after the Super Bowl played out, Fan Duel went live in Massachusetts. I took the 200 dollars they gave me and turned it into 1000. Then, I got stupid and lost it all. Oh well, let that be a lesson to us all. Bet virtual money as if it was real money because, hell, it actually is. Living in the future is weird. Even with all of that, I intend to stick to my mantra of not betting on a game where the ball bounces funny, so Betting the Bowl 2024 exists only on the internet.

Ridiculous Prop Bets for Super Bowl 58

Coin Toss

I went on a bit of a rant last year about the coin toss. While this represents probably the safest bet in all of gambling, I can’t bring myself to accept that anyone actually bets this thing with any conviction.

Gatorade Color

They zagged last year with purple. I put virtual money on either green or yellow with some money on red because those were the colors of the teams. Now, I’m thinking that they zagged to rake in that easy money from dopes like me who think they know something about something. Which now makes me think that they might zig this time since purple hit a few times over the last few years.

Scorigami

I saw this in an article that I searched for prop bets. Ever since visiting the page after several mentions on my favorite sports podcast, I became somewhat obsessed with Scorigami. It’s when a score occurs that never occurred before. While there’s a low chance, 25 to 1 is nothing to sneeze at. I’d throw five bucks that way.

Single Dollar Picks

Stealing yet another Bill Simmons idea, I came up with single dollar picks for last year’s article. He has million dollar picks. I have single dollar picks. Last year, I bet 1 dollar and won back 94 cents, so I have 1.94 to play with this year.

Surest Bet (KC to win the first half): The Chefs MO against the Rats in the AFC Championship was to come out firing and then just slowly squeeze the life out of them in the second half. And it worked. Add to the fact that Brock Purdy’s been slow starting games and that just makes sense to me. Plus, it’s even money and you can parlay for better odds on another ticket. Bet: 0.39 cents to win 0.38.

Game/MVP Parlay (SF/Purdy, KC/Mahomes): I cleaned up a few years ago with the Kupp MVP selection, but it’s usually a quarterback. KC/Mahomes pays +350 and SF/Purdy gives +514. Either way, you make money. Only possible spoiler I see i Kelce getting 3 TDs. 0.25 on each to win 0.88 with Mahomes or 1.29 with Purdy.

Taking the Number Here (Kelce to score first TD): He’s 7.5 to one to get it done. If KC wins the toss, defers, and stones SF on their first drive, I can see Mahomes leaning on Kelce and him scoring. Bet: 0.10 to win back 0.75.

I gotta be honest here. I’m not terribly inspired to write this article right now and I can’t find any bets that interest me other than those ones. So, I’m pocketing my winnings from last year and I’ll finish up with the Perplexing Penny Parlay.

Perplexing Penny Parlay

Last year, I put together a parlay that paid out over 100 dollars on a single penny bet. I also wanted the bet to be somewhat plausible. That worked out to 5 out of the 7 legs hitting and me feeling pretty good about myself. I think I said I might shoot for 1 million this year, but maybe I’ll just add one zero for Betting the Bowl 2024.

Chiefs First Half (-102)

Chiefs Game (+100)

Under 47.5 (-110)

Patrick Mahomes MVP (+125)

Travis Kelce First TD (+750)

Travis Kelce Most Receptions (+155)

Longest TD Under 1.5 Yards (-160)

Scorigami (+2000)

Total Payout of 125.83 on a penny bet. Getting to 1000 proved to be too hard this year, so as 31 teams find themselves saying every year, “Wait until next year.” Maybe I will have more inspiration then.

The Verdict

Last year I watched the Super Bowl with my father in law. This year, he invited me again to watch with my brother in law. Then, Chris and Jason invited me over. Then, my father in law invited m y wife and sister in law. I think that all of this social time is inhibiting my interest in betting the bowl 2024. Instead, I just want to sit and watch with my family this year.

On the Tabletop

MTGMKM Miscellany

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Introduction

I dedicated this week to the new Magic the Gathering set. In spite of the fact that I told Chris that I no longer wanted to collect cards and went so far as to not order any bundles in Arena, I still like the game and found some cards to enjoy in this set. Yesterday was busy, though, with play practice and swim, so MTGMKM miscellany comes a day late.

Usually in this article, I cover multi colored, colorless, and any lands that capture my imagination. Often, I don’t care much about things like fetches and the sort, so the lands section doesn’t exist. This set, however, brings us an old standard in lands with a new twist.

Surveil Lands

We have tap lands that grant life. We have ones that allow you to scry. They even created lands that come in tapped depending on how many lands you already have on the battle field. Well, this iteration of tap lands allows you to surveil. You can read the card above for an explanation of surveil. While I don’t know how much it will affect competitive decks, graveyard strategies absolutely get a boost from these and I’d probably run them over the scry lands. Plus, they’re basics, so you can fetch.

MTGMKM Mult Colored Honorable Mention (Another Wrath and Two Funny Names)

Private Eye

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I saw an article recently where someone wrote about the sheer number of wrath spells in standard Magic. One of the prominent and well known players put together a deck with only wrath spells and ended up performing pretty well overall in the meta. I just like the flexibility of this one. How can you not love an “X” cost spell that both targets “X” and creates “X”? Finally, people got big mad when WotC announced the change to typal, but it allows for broader definitions like “detective”. Maybe, even though resources are limited, I will try to build a “detective” typal deck.

MTGMKM Card I Love (A New Leyline)

Leylines came out in Guildpact and then fleshed out more over the years. I rarely play any of them, but my latest elf deck has abundance in for the extra mana provided. Initially, I thought nothing of this card, but then I read an article that talked about how much fun it made mono green devotion. That gave me a reason to either craft or try to pull it in Arena. Besides, the dual mana cost provides such amazing utility, too. Just a super fun card overall.

MTGMKM Artifact Honorable Mention (A Puzzle, A Land, and Policing Fun, of course)

Cryptex

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I think I wrote up above about colorless being part of MTGMKM miscellany. However, there aren’t many colorless cards in the deck, so I called and audible and went with artifact instead. I just like the idea of the Cryptex. It provides mana and potential card draw. The Wall lets me frustrate big giant creatures, one of my favorite past times in game. And, the land just gives you another potential card draw source along with flexible mana.

MTGMKM Artifact Card I Love

I actually got to play this card during their introductory event on Arena. It is a super annoying card that with the right build can just annihilate people fairly quickly. Now that I’ve said that, the universe will see fit to pair me with every other person who had the same idea in Arena. They will draw the nuts and show me just how right I am.

The Verdict

MTGMKM miscellany is hella fun. I can see myself playing every card that I picked and several others look interesting as well. I especially want to build the mono green deck in Arena and see how that performs. See you all in Pioneer!

Images taken from Mythic Spoiler.

Digital Playground

The Death of Hearthstone?

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Introduction

Nothing lasts forever. Father Time is undefeated. Your preferred cliche here to explain the passing of time and impermanence of everything. I mean, I’m even going through another one of my “do I really want to spend all of this money on cards (real or virtual) anymore?” phases. This one feels different, though. Nevertheless, I come to praise and not bury on this the possible Even of the death of Hearthstone.

At times in the past, I’d bury Hearthstone and happily so. Either I grew up, or it became less annoying, or both, because I actually feel melancholy about the possible demise of the old lady. Between rewards tracks and actual enjoyment of Battlegrounds, if the game dies, that puts quite the hole in my daily rotation of games. Whatever will I do? Perhaps update the YouTube page more consistently?

Why the Funeral?

I originally planned this article as an update to the game. The last time I visited Hearthstone, I wrote a quick article comparing the new expansion to the new MTG expansion. Not even a full set of articles for the game and that expansion. And, to be honest, not much has changed. They released a mini set, but there are no other expansions planned right now and their “Year of” update normally gaining steam right now is nowhere to be found.

The company just experienced massive layoffs at the hands of their new owners, Microsoft. Wizards, too, but for some reason Magic the Gathering still looks strong right now. Hearthstone, not so much. Hell, I even typed “Is Hearthstone Dead” into Google to try to confirm my suspicions. No confirmation, but the drums are beating louder if Reddit is any indication.

Esports, on the other hand…

In this case, I will take a victory lap. Call it dancing on the corpses of the content creators and influencers, if you must. If so, please make sure that you call it the sour grapes that it definitely is. Chris and I never believed in the whole esports scene and we are repeatedly being proved right on that front. It’s different to watch Lebron James or Patrick Mahomes do great things and know that you never could. It’s entirely different to watch some rando sling cards and know that, with a little bit of practice, you could pretty much do the same. Apparently, Blizzard stuck a knife in the side of their Hearthstone esports scene and nearly everyone agrees that’s over.

The Verdict

I may be premature in naming the death of Hearthstone. I mean, people still play Doom on a semi regular basis 30 years ago. Even if the game does stop getting support completely from Blizzard, people will still play and they might even pick up the mantle to keep the game going. That’s what seems to happen to the games that I play. They get sold to another company who keeps it afloat for a few years. I guess we’ll truly see in a couple of months when it’s time for the new “year” in Hearthstone.

Digital Playground

Marvel SNAP February 2024: Black Order

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Introduction

Let me get this out of the way and diminish my nerd cred further. I have no idea who or what the Black Order is. Even after a quick look at the Wikipedia page, I have no idea. Oh well, it won’t stop me from bringing you my thoughts on the latest update in the game Chris once called “War with additional features.”

New Locations

Neither of these locations wow me as much as some others in the past. I do like the idea of getting a random 6-cost card from my “Ones” deck, so that will be nice when I play that one. Independently, the Infinity Stones can either be game changing or a complete whiff. Like the actual stones, their real power comes from playing all of them and getting the buff on Thanos as a result. So, I will most likely curse that location when it shows.

New Characters

Proxima Midnight

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When this is discarded, jumps to your lowest-Power location. (that isn’t full)

Nope. Not even seeing the cards brings any recognition. I have no idea who any of these people are. Luckily, I don’t need to know who they are in order to play the cards. And, I will play Black Swan and Cull Obsidian without a doubt in my “Ones” deck. I don’t play discard very much, as I mentioned in the previous article about Marvel SNAP. So, I doubt that I will prioritize Corvus Glaive or Proxima Midnight unless I get a quest for discards. I like the idea of Supergiant in an reveal deck and it also sets up a pretty cool Hela in the right discard deck.

The Verdict

I’m not as excited about the Black Order update as I was Planet Hulk. Granted, not knowing the characters or story diminishes my enjoyment some. But, also, the cards and locations aren’t as much fun, either. Plus, next month is X-Men vs. Avengers and I’ll be looking forward to that. I still plan on playing enough to get all of the goodies. See you in game, SNAPers.

Note: Images taken from Marvel SNAP Zone.

On the Tabletop

MTGMKM Esper Edition

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Introduction

I texted Chris the other day and said, “As much as it pains me, I think I’m done buying cards for collection alone. The boxes are just becoming too expensive and there’s other things I would rather spend my money on.” I still enjoy the game. I included the caveat that some of the money would go to singles for my decks. And, also, in service to all of you, I continue my set reviews. Welcome, then to MTGMKM Esper edition.

With all of that said, I paid no attention to the spoilers for this set. Chris and Jason both agreed. Jason said that the names are getting more and more ridiculous. Maybe, he just mentioned the setting. Chris said something about not liking the mechanics. I think he called them “goofy”. But, I looked at the cards and made my choices. Tell me what you think.

White Cards Honorable Mention (Removal, removal, recursion)

Call a Surprise Witness

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You all know how much I love a wrath. And this one comes with upside if you control the most creatures in the game. Not tough to do if you’re playing mono white tokens. You may not know, but I’ve become enamored with instant speed targeted removal, too. Something about it just makes me giggle. The last card, while sorcery speed, allows you to cheat the system some if playing Tiny Leaders or White Weenies in EDH. You can bring your commander back once without paying the penalty.

MTGMKM White Card I Love (Speaking of White Weenies)

This card takes a traditionally green mechanic and slaps it onto a white card. It further warps that mechanic by allowing you to pull a small creature from the top of your deck instead of a land. This card is just waiting to be abused in commander with the right deck.

MTGMKM Blue Honorable Mention (A New Mechanic, Stun, and What Library?)

Bubble Smuggler

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Disguise looks like morph or manifest. But, it gives the token ward, which is a nice touch. That makes it slightly more persistent and able to be flipped on a later turn. The stun card both bypasses any counter ability, including the aforementioned ward. It also gives you two turns to find an answer instead of one. Lastly, the Living Condundrum is just a silly card.

MTGMKM Blue Card I Love (Your Card is My Card Now)

That triple blue is steep and this probably won’t see play outside of commander, but I’ve been surprised before. I just like the idea of combining this with some targeted removal on their huge threat and using it against them. Sure, there are more efficient ways of accomplishing that, but certainly not as fun.

MTGMKM Black Honorable Mention (Another New Mechanic, Flash Enchantment, and “Oops, Pow, Surprise!”)

Case of the Stashed Skeleton

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The case cards looks similar to the Saga cards and I mistakenly thought they were the same, but the trigger is different. Not sure how I feel about them. The other enchantment brings some interesting possibilities in my wildest dreams. The last card just brings instant speed removal in a different form. Plus, the added lifelink and investigate feels like overkill on a one mana card.

MTGMKM Black Card I Love (It’s a Killer)

Massacre Girl came out after a similar card hit Hearthstone. I remember when I saw it and immediately thought of that card. It takes on a slightly different flavor in this one and brings back wither. Plus, that flavor text is simply amazing.

The Verdict

The cards in the MTGMKM Esper edition, overall, are underwhelming. Some cards are fun and I can see myself playing them. But, I think my decision to stop purchasing for collection came at the right time. Come back in a couple of days to see how red and green compare.

Note: pictures taken from Mythic Spoiler.